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Tropical Cyclone Information System

Friday, 04 September 2009

The JPL Tropical Cyclone Infor mation
System (TCIS) is a Web portal
( http://tropicalcyclone.jpl.nasa.gov )
that provides researchers with an extensive
set of observed hurricane parameters
together with large-scale and convection-resolving
model outputs. It provides a
comprehensive set of high-resolution
satellite (see figure), airborne, and in-situ
observations in both image and data formats.
Large-scale datasets depict the surrounding
environmental parameters
such as SST (Sea Surface Temperature)
and aerosol loading. Model outputs and
analysis tools are provided to evaluate
model performance and compare observations
from different platforms.

The system pertains to the thermodynamic
and microphysical structure of the
storm, the air-sea interaction processes,
and the larger-scale environment as
depicted by ocean heat content and the
aerosol loading of the environment.

Currently, the TCIS is populated with
satellite observations of all tropical
cyclones observed globally during 2005.
There is a plan to extend the database
both forward in time till present as well
as backward to 1998. The portal is powered
by a MySQL database and an
Apache/Tomcat Web server on a Linux
system. The interactive graphic user
interface is provided by Google Map.

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